“I would hope that administratively, the president will do what he can to take a look at deportations, but he is being burdened by the law as it exists, and we need to change it,” Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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In 2012, Obama announced that the administration would halt the deportation of young adults in the U.S. illegally who met certain criteria through prosecutorial prioritization. Immigration activists and some Democrats have suggested the president could expand that deferred action program to allow more illegal immigrants to remain in the United States.

The president has repeatedly said his power to stop deportations is limited.

“I’ve been able to prevent deportations of younger people with, the Dream Act kids, by administrative action,” he told Univision Radiolast week. “But the problem is that’s just a temporary action that I’ve been taking. That’s not yet the law that’s been passed by Congress. And it doesn’t help their parents and others who are in the similar situations.”

Obama urged those frustrated by immigration policy to put pressure on House Republicans to move on legislation.

“The main thing people can do right now is put pressure on Republicans who have refused so far to act,” he said. “And I think sending a strong message to them that this is the right thing to do; it’s important to do; it’s the fair thing to do, and it will actually improve the economy and give people a chance.”